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Rare coins minted in York could fetch £30,000

SILVER coins struck in York during the English Civil War are expected to fetch more than £30,000 at auction.

A private Welsh collector is selling 37 rare coins issued in 1643 and 1644 featuring the word “Ebor” and a lion, both denoting York as the city of origin.

The York mint of Charles I was assembled as Royalist forces fought for control of the North. York became a key city to the king after he was forced to leave London in 1642.

The collection will go under the hammer at Lockdales of Martlesham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, on January 25. It includes 18 silver half crowns, 11 silver shillings, one silver sixpence and seven silver threepences.

Auction manager James Sadler said: “There has already been great interest in them, both from Britain and abroad. Not surprisingly, we have had many calls from Yorkshire.”